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There is a good chance San Diego will take a page out of Pittsburgh’s book by compressing their coverage on outside routes. Specifically, if they invert the coverage like Pittsburgh did –keep the corner deep and bring the safety underneath—it’ll be extremely tough for Joe Flacco to find Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones outside the hashes.

The Ravens’ answer was to use short dump offs to Ray Rice over the middle. But with Rice, the routes can be limited to small 4 or 5 yard gains unless he breaks a few tackles. The routes need to stretch beyond the linebackers. Deeper square-ins and post routes should be dialed up consistently. This could be the type of game in which Tandon Doss could fill in nicely as an extra slot receiver, especially if tight end Dennis Pitta is limited.

[B]2. Rev up the Offense[/B]

The Ravens will need to be a lot more efficient overall against San Diego than they were against Pittsburgh. That means they’ll need to complete passes consistently, especially in third-and-long situations. Meanwhile, San Diego can’t get a consistent pass rush going with their down line. The Chargers will likely take some more chances with the blitz to disrupt Flacco’s rhythm.

If the Ravens are able to get their protections down, this is the type of game in which Flacco should be given free rein to pass early and often—albeit with less empty sets where he is exposed in the pocket. The offense will need to play at a higher tempo than they have in their other road games.

[B]3. Change up the Snap Count[/B]

It’s becoming pretty evident that opposing defenses have the timing of Baltimore’s snap count down pat. The entire Pittsburgh front seven was consistently a step quicker than the Baltimore offensive line

This has been a problem in all of the Ravens’ road games. The direct correlation is hard to miss, especially when pass protection has been awful in all of these performances.

The Ravens need to keep San Diego guessing with quick counts and vary their timing on longer counts. Either way, they can’t continue down this predictable path.

For the defensive Battle Plans and the One-on-One Matchup to watch for [B][URL="http://russellstreetreport.com/battle-plans-ravens-vs-chargers/"]continue reading...[/URL][/B][/QUOTE]